Wire fabric making machine



April 1937. A. E. BLASHILL 2,078,226

\ WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE Original Filed June 18, 1931 8 sh t -sh t 1April 27, 1937. A. E. BLASHILL WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet2 Original Filed June 18, 1951 17-5. E/ w J I L/ 2 9 fbg April 27, 1937.A. E. BLASHILL WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE Original Filed June 18, 1931 8Sheets-Sheet 3 April 27, 1937. BLASHlLL 2,078,226

WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE Original Filed June 18, 1931 8 Sheets-Sheet 4April 27, 1937.

A. E. BLASHILL WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE Original Filed June 18, 1931 8Sheets-Sheet 5 April 1937. A. E. BLASHILL- 2,078,226

WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE Originl Filed June 18, 1931 s Sheets-Sheet sApril 27, 1937. A. E. BLASHILL k WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE OriginalFiled June 18, 1931 8 SheetsSheet 7 H 2 B/QSM/ April 27, 1937.

E. BLASHILL WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE Original Filed J1 me 18, 1931 8sh t -sh et 8 a 5. E/as/z) Patented Apr. 27, 1937 UNETED STATES PATENTQFFICE WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE Arthur Ernest Blashill, Withington,Manchester, England ary 14, 1935, Serial No. 1,796.

ain June 24, 1930 8 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for producing wire fabric of thekind which is composed of separate wire lengths spaced apart so as toform a square or rectangular shaped mesh. The separate wire lengthsconsist of what are termed line and stay wires, the line wires beingdisposed substantially at right angles to the stay wires and the latterbeing connected to the line wires at their points of intersection withthe latter by having their ends twisted around the outside line wiresand by means of separate wire locks twisted around the inner line wiresand the stay wires at the points of intersection of these wires witheach other.

The application is a division from my copending application, Serial No.545,321 filed June 18, 1931, and patented April 2, 1935 under Patent No.1,996,061.

The machine to which the present invention relates employs a rotary drumfor feeding the line wires through the machine for the applicationthereto of the stay wires, the line wires being passed over the surfaceof such drum, and the invention has for one of its objects to provideimprovements in regard to the construction and operation of the saidfeeding drum.

According to the present invention the drum for feeding the line wiresis continuously rotated and in order to compensate for the period duringwhich a stay wire is being secured to the line wires this feeding drumhas translational motion imparted to it during such period.

The invention also extends to a winding drum for the finished fabricwhich drum is composed for segments whereby the drum is capable of beingreduced in diameter in order to facilitate the removal of a completedroll of fabric from the drum.

The invention also consists in the further features to be hereinafterdescribed, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine for forming wire fabric andhaving a feeding drum for the line wires operating in accordance withthe invention;

Figure 2 is an end view of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross section through the cross frame A of Figure 1 andillustrates the construction and arrangement of the dies which operateto apply the wire looks at the points of intersection o-f the inner linewires of the fabric with the stay wires thereof;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section of the rotary feeding drum for theline wires;

In Great Brit- Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevational view of thisfeeding drum;

Figures 6, 7 and 8 are views illustrating details of the gripping jawsprovided on such drum;

Figure 9 is a part sectional view of the winding drum provided inaccordance with this invention;

Figures 10, 11, 12 and 13 illustrate details of this winding drum;

Figure 14 is a fragmentary end view partly in section showing one of theline wires passing through the device which operates to bend the wire soas to produce a helical effect in the finished fabric;

Figures 15 to 18 are views illustrating details of this device, Figure15 being an end elevation, Figure 16 a front view, Figure 17 a partsectional plan view on the line EE in Figure 15 and Figure 18 being apart sectional plan View on the line FF in Figure 15.

Figure 19 is an end view of a counter mechanism provided in accordancewith the invention;

Figure 20 is a side view of Figure 19;

Figure 21 is a part sectional view taken on the line l\/IM in Figure 20,and

Figures 22 and 23 illustrate details of the counter mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, the line wires I, after passing between pairsof die elements 2, 2, (Figure 3) are led around a rotary feeding drum 3and from the latter the line wires are led to a winding drum 4 (Figure9) upon which the completed fabric is wound into the form of a roll.

The die elements operate to apply wire locks 5 at the points ofintersection of the line wires with each stay wire 6 and the dieelements are adapted to be opened and closed for this purpose.

The winding drum is composed of a plurality of segments 1 which areslidably supported upon tapered guides 8 carried upon a fixed shaft 9mounted within the drum and coaxial therewith. Each drum segment on itsinside carriers guides H] which are tapered to correspond with theguides 8 and with which the guides I0 engage by means of dovetails ll(Figure 12). The shaft 9 is formed wth an axial bore l2 through which arod it! passes and is mounted for reciprocation. within the bore bybeing connected at one end with a lever Hi which is mounted for rockingmovement about a fixed pivot l5 by the actuation of a pedal 16 andthrough the medium of a link ll. At its other end the rod i3 is connected with internal projections IS on the free outer ends of the drumsegments by means of a disc I9 carried at such end of the rod andengaged within open slots 20 in the said projections 18.

each other so as to reduce the diameter ofthe drum which these segmentsform since movement of the rod in this direction will, through themedium of the disc 19, cause the guides ill to move down the taperedsurfaces of the guides 8 of the fixed shaft 9. Movement of the rod inthe opposite direction by depression of the pedal will cause the guidesID to ride up the tapered surfaces of the guides 8 with the result thatthe drum segments are moved apart from each other and the diameter ofthe drum is increased, this being the condition illustrated in Figure 9.During contraction of the drum segments the projections l8 ride inwardlyupon the disc and during expansion of the drum these projections rideupon the disc in the opposite direction.

The winding drum is driven by an electric motor 22 (Figure 2) whichoperates so that its speed decreases as the torque resistance of itsload increases during the winding operation on account of the increasingsize of the fabric roll.

The line wires are passed between jaws 23, 23 (Figures 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8)on the exterior surface of the feeding drum 3 and the latter is arrangedto be rotated after a portion of the fabric has been completed in thedies 2, 2 so that the jaws may operate to move the fabric forward andposition the line wires for the application thereto of another stay wire6. The jaws 23, 23 are arranged in longitudinally spaced seriesannularly around the circumference of the drum 3 and the arrangement issuch that the series of jaws are brought into operation to grip the linewires successively during rotation of the drum 3 and preferably so thatmore than one series of jaws on the far side of the drum relative to thefeeding side of the machine are in operation at a time.

The jaws 23 are adapted for lateral movement towards or away from thejaws 23 and are actuated by radial arms 24 the inner ends of which carryrollers 25 which engage a cam 26 secured to the housing 21 at one end ofa shaft 28 which carries the drum 3, the .arrangement being such that asthe drum is rotated the said rollers are moved so as to engage the highand low parts of the cam. When the rollers are in engagement with thehigh part of the cam the jaws 23 are moved into gripping relation withthe jaws 23 through the operation of links 29 and upon the rollerssubsequently arriving in succession at the low part of the cam, the jaws23 are moved out of gripping engagement with the jaws 23 andconsequently with the line wires, such latter movement being arranged totake place automatically if desired as by the operation of springs 30which are energized upon movement of the arms 24 to close the jaws.

The gripping jaws 23, 23 are preferably adapted for adjustment to meetany particular spacing apart of the line wires and this adjustment maybe effected by providing spacing members which are adapted to beinterposed between ad- Jacent pairs of gripping jaws and are of lengthschosen in accordance with the particular spacing required. Means mayalso be provided for adjusting the distance between the gripping jaws sothat the allowance made for movement of the latter is only such as willensure an efiicient gripping action of the jaws on the wires, such meanspreventing excessive transverse displacement of the jaws as would putthem out of alignment with the line wires.

The drum 3 for feeding the line wires is arranged to be rotatedcontinuously by means of a chain 32 (Figure 2) which passes around guidesprockets 33, 34, 35 and 36 and is driven by a sprocket wheel 3'! .andin order to compensate for the period during which a stay wire is beingsecured to the line wires it is arranged that the drum 3 is loweredwhile the dies 2, 2 are closed and is subsequently raised when the diesare opened, the drum being moved during this period through appropriatedistances according to the desired spacing apart of the adjacent staywires on the finished fabric. This raising and lowering motion of thedrum may be effected by arranging for the drum 3 to be supported by astructure 38 which is adapted to be operated upon by cams 39 atappropriate moments during the operation of the machine so as to impartthe necessary up-and-down motions to the drum, the sprocket wheel 33carried by the movable structure 38 serving to take up the slack of thechain 32 resulting from the drop of the structure 33.

The cam 26 over the surface of which the rollers 25 move in order tooperate the jaws 23, 23 may be secured to the supporting structure 33 soas to secure the cam against rotation.

The circumference of the drum 3 is a multiple of the unit of measurementof the fabric and serves to measure the latter and the drum may havemeans associated therewith adapted to record the amount of fabric fedthereby together with means adapted to cause an alarm to be sounded whena predetermined amount of the fabric has been made.

In one specific form of the invention the drum 3 falls at a uniformspeed from the time the dies 2, 2 are inch from being closed until theyare inch from being fully open and during the rest of the open period ofthe dies the drum rises at a graduated or crank motion speed.

In Figures 19 to 23 an alarm and recording means is shown operated fromthe chain sprocket wheel 33 through gearing 39, 49, 4|, 42, the gearwheel 42 operating to rotate a drum 43 with which the alarm mechanism isassociated, while said wheel 42 is further .associated with mechanismadapted to record the total amount of wire fabric produced by themachine, said latter mechanism being operated from the gear wheel 42through pinions 44, 45, and gear wheel 41. The recording mechanism,which is indicated generally by the reference 48 in Figures 21 to 23,comprises an outer drum 49 having numbers on its peripheral surface, asindicated in Figure 22, which numbers represent the total amount offabric produced by the machine and which will be indicated by thepointer 50.

The face of the drum 43 is marked with radially disposed series ofdenominations 5| which represent a definite amount of fabric and theperipheral face of the drum is provided with laterally displacedcontacts 52 arranged in line with the series of contacts representingthe various denominations, said contacts being arranged so that uponmovement of the drum through a certain distance one or the other thereofwill engage with a fixed contact 53 whereupon an electric circuit isclosed and an alarm or signal device is operated. The denominations onthe drum 43 may represent the length of fabric in rods and thearrangement may be such that if, for example, the alarm is to beoperated when 10 rods of the fabric have been produced, upon the contact54 on the drum arriving against the fixed contact 53, the electriccircuit will be closed and the alarm operated. The other contacts on the,edge of the drum, and indicated by the references 55, 56 and 5?,correspond with the denominations Z0, 30, 46 respectively.

The line wires are drawn from reels, and are led from the latter throughtubular guides which lead the wires beneath the base of the machine andthe lengths of wire after leaving the tubular guides are l d through aseries of devices which operate to impart a helical form to the wires soas to produce a helical effect in the finished fabric.

The series of coilers comprise vertically disposed series of rollers 58(Figures 14 to 18), and the rollers 58 of each series are disposed instaggered relationship and preferably have their axes relativelyinclined to each other as is illustrated in these figures.

The rollers are carried upon supports 59 which are preferably rotatablymounted so that they may turn freely during operation and remainstationary during the time the wire locks are being secured to thefabric wires. Provision is preferably made, however, for applying atension efiect such as will take any slack out of the wires immediatelyprior to the clamping of the wires by the dies so as to ensure that thespacing of the portions of the line wires between adja cent stay wiresis uniform.

Means may also be provided for varying the degree of staggering of therollers 58 so that it is possible exactly to control the helical effectproduced in the line wires. comprise a worm to and a toothed segment 6iengaging with the worm and associated with one or more of the rollers ofthe series so that by the operation of said worm and segment the angularposition of the rollers with respect to one another may be varied.

I may arrange for each series of rollers to be rotated positively, as bymeans of a light chain drive, although normally their rotation will beeffected by the pull of the line wires as they are fed through themachine.

The series of rollers between the outermost thereof may be disposed in aline displaced relatively to the line of the outermost series,preferably in a line nearest to the movable dies, so that a spring-likeaction is imparted to the fabric upon opening of the dies after a lockforming operation which tends to move the fabric away from the fixeddies. This arrangement of the end roller series also facilitates thethreading of the stay wires across the line wires in the preferredmanner according to which the stay wires are passed behind the marginalline wires l and in front of the intermediate line wires l or viceversa. Deflector plates may be provided and arranged so as to ensurethis relative dispositioning of the line wires and facilitate thethreading of the stay wires in the manner referred to.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

1. In a machine for forming wire fabric composed of line wires and staywires secured to the line wires transversely thereof by means of wirelocks secured at the points of intersection of stay wires with the linewires, the combination therewith of a continuously rotatable drum adapt-Such means may ed to feed the line wires through the machine and meansfor imparting translational to and fro movements to this same drumduring the rotation thereof.

2. In a machine for forming wire fabric composed of line wires and staywires secured to the line wires transversely thereof, the combinationtherewith of a continuously rotatable drum, means on the drum adapted togrip the line wires so as to feed them through the machine duringrotation of the drum, and means for periodically imparting translationalmotion to this same drum, during rotation thereof, in order to stop thefeeding of the line wires during each operation of the machine to securea stay wire across the line wires.

3. In .a machine for forming wire fabric composed of line wires and staywires secured to the line wires transversely with respect thereto, the

combination therewith of a continuously rotatable drum adapted to feedthe line wires through the machine, means for imparting translational toand fro movements to this same drum during rotation thereof, said meansconsisting of a continuously travelling (or driven) chain or the like, asecond drum upon which the finished fabric delivered from the first drumis wound and means which always bears a fixed relation to the said firstdrum adapted to take up the slack of the chain during translationalmotion of the drum without allowing the pull of the winding operationaffecting the constant rotation of the said first drum.

4. In a machine for producing wire fabric comprising line wires and staywires secured to the line wires transversely with respect thereto, thecombination therewith of a continuously rotatable drum, means on thedrum adapted to feed the line wires through the machine during rotationof the drum, and means adapted to impart translational to and fro motionto this same drum during rotation thereof in a plane substantiallyparallel with the direction of delivery of the fabric from the machine.

5. In a machine for producing wire fabric composed of line wires andstay wires secured to the line wires transversely with respect theretoby means of wire locks secured at the points of intersection of the staywires with the line wires, the combination therewith of a continuouslyrotatable overhead drum, means on the drum adapted to feed the linewires through the machine during rotation of the drum, means adaptedperiodically to lower the drum, without stopping its rotation, so as toproduce a cessation in the feeding of the line wires through the machineduring the time that a stay wire is being secured to the line wires,means for returning the drum to its original position after the staywire has been secured to the line wires, a continuously moving chain orthe like adapted to rotate the drum, and means movable with the drum andto the same extent adapted to take up the slack of the chain during thetime that the drum is being lowered, said last mentioned means alwaysbearing a fixed relation to said drum.

6. In a machine for producing wire fabric composed of line wires andstay wires secured to the line wires transversely with respect thereto,the combination therewith of a continuously rotatable drum, means on thedrum adapted to feed ac line wires through the machine during rotationof the drum, and means associated with the drum adapted to record theamount of fabric produced by the machine and. to give an audibleindication when a predetermined amount of fabric has been produced, saidmeans compr'ming displac'eable contacts arranged adjacently to a seriesof denominations on the drum which rep- 5 resent different amounts offabric produced by the machine, and a stationary contact arranged in anelectrical circuit which is energized, upon this contact being engagedby one of the movable contacts, so as to complete the circuit to asignalling device, said stationary contact being movable into differentpositions where it may be engaged with the particular contact on thedrum corresponding to the amount of fabric it is desired to produce.

' '7. In a machine for producing wire fabric composed of line wires andstay wires secured to the line wires transversely with respect thereto,the combination therewith of means adapted to bend the line wires asthey are fed through the a machine so as to impart a helical formationto these wires, said means comprising a series 'of rollers arranged instaggered relationship, and means whereby the angular position of theroll- 5 ers with respect to one another may be varied at will said lastmentioned means comprising a worm and a toothed segment in engagementwith said worm and connected with certain of the rollers.

8. A drum upon which wire fabric may be Wound comprising in combinationa plurality of segments which form a hollow drum, tapered guides on theinterior of each said segment, a hollow shaft within the drum andcoaxial therewith said shaft having an extension beyond one end of thedrum, tapered guides upon the exterior of said shaft upon which thetapered guides on the interior of the drum segments are adapted foraxial sliding movements, a rod which passes freely through the interiorof said shaft from end to end thereof and at the end of the shaft remotefrom the said extended shaft end is connected with the correspondingends of the drum segments and means connected with the other end of saidrod by which the rod may be moved axially in the direction of theopposite end of the drum to cause the tapered guides on the drumsegments to slide upon the tapered guides on the said shaft and therebycause a contraction of the drum segments and consequential reduction inthe diameter of the drum which facilitates the removal of the wire woundupon the drum.

ARTHUR ERNEST BLASI-IILL.

